A Hero and a Good Will. in his work The Odyssey; while the philosophical writer Augustine creates a division

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1 Badenhausen/More Humanities December 6, 2006 A Hero and a Good Will The literary author Homer makes a classification of ordinary beings versus a hero in his work The Odyssey; while the philosophical writer Augustine creates a division amongst the good will versus the evil will in his work City of God. Both Augustine and Homer share common ideals in there classifications, but a fundamental difference exists in the matter of how men and divinity relate in their classification. Both authors show a classification of an ideal person versus an un-ideal person, yet the means in which a man achieves an ideal state in this classification is where the fundamental difference exists; specifically in the human to god relationship. In Homer s The Odyssey we see an interactive relationship in which the ideal receives favor and interaction from the divine, where as in Augustine s City of God, we see a relationship in which man is subordinate to the higher authority of the divine and must live under God s rule. This different relationship between men and the divinity in Homer and Augustine s classification explains why they have a different conception of what is ideal. And because ideal form is achieved differently, we see a different set of values in the ancient Greek culture versus a more modern, Christian view. In Greek culture, great emphasis and value is placed on notions such as intellect, arite, and favor by the Gods. A man in Greek culture would obtain these values from actions such as killing men in battle to being able to deceive men. These actions of killing

2 and lying, though valued in this Greek society and culture, would be considered sinful in a modern Christian view. Homer depicts the emphasis of these valued traits in his work The Odyssey, and creates a classification based on these characteristics. Homer shows his division through Odysseus, a character that embodies all of the characteristics of a hero and an epic Greek praised by the people. We see Odysseus demonstrate characteristics that are valued by the Greek culture in Homer s literary works. Odysseus is fast, strong, cunning, deceptive, brave, and articulate. He has great kleos from these traits and is favored by certain Gods such as Zeus and Athena. In comparison to Odysseus, we have the common man such as the suitors, who do not embody these characteristics and are not favored by the divine. An example of when Homer demonstrates his classification is when he uses common men such as the suitors and the hero Odysseus to see who can string the great bow. Homer describes Odysseus while he strings the great bow, But the man skilled in all ways of contending, / satisfied by the great bow s look and heft, / like a musician, like a harper, when / with a quiet hand upon his instrument / he draws between his thumb and forefinger / a sweet new string upon a peg: so effortlessly / Odysseus in one motion strung the bow. / Then slid his right hand down the cord and plucked it, / so the taut guy vibrating hummed and sang / a swallow s note. (Homer The Odyssey ). Homer creates the division of the great hero versus the common man as seen in the passage. Homer describes Odysseus with eloquent analogies and depicts his great strength by showing how great of a feat it is to string Odysseus s bow, that only

3 Odysseus is capable of doing it. We also see that many of Odysseus great attributes as a hero is due to the favor he receives from the gods. Many of Odysseus successes, attributes, and the reason for his successful journey home is due to the great amounts of favor he receives from the gods, Athena particularly. Athena states how she is in great support for Odysseus and therefore wants to help him. O Majesty, O Father of us all, / that man is in the dust indeed, and justly. / So perish all who do what he had done. / But my heart is broken for Odysseus, / the master mind of war, so long a castaway / upon an island in the running sea; (Homer The Odyssey 1.60). Athena then begs Zeus to assist her favored Odysseus back home, she states, O Majesty, O Father of us all, / if it now please the blissful gods / that wise Odysseus reach his home again, / let the Wayfinder, Hermes, cross the sea / to the island of Ogygia; let him tell / our fixed intent to the nymph with pretty braids, / and let the steadfast man depart for home. (Homer The Odyssey 1.105). This passage suggests that the reason for Odysseus heroic nature and successes are due to divine intervention and favoritism by the gods. This depicts the human to god relationship in The Odyssey. The reason Odysseus has achieved this heroic status is due to the God s favor. For Homer s classification to exist, and for a man to achieve the ideal state in the classification, one must have a relationship with the divine in which the divine is supporting you and providing favor. Odysseus achieved this because he embodied the values of the Greek culture such as killing many men in battle and possessing great deceptiveness and kleos. These Greek values, and the notion of god and human

4 interaction like that of Odysseus and Athena, are greatly different than the relationship described in Augustine s work, City of God. The way of achieving the ideal state of being a good person, essentially the hero role, is different than killing men in battle and deceiving people. It is by living in accordance to a single god free of sin, maintaining a will that adheres to God. Augustine in City of God, makes the classification of good versus evil. Augustine employs this classification by explaining that all things that come from God are good, that it is only by the will s choice to descend from god shall a man or angel become corrupt and evil. There is, then no natural efficient cause of an evil will or, if I may use the word, no essential cause. The reason for this is that it is the evil will itself that starts that evil in mutable spirits, which is nothing but a weakening and worsening of the good in their nature, What makes the will evil is, in reality, an unmaking, a desertion from God. (Augustine City of God 9) Augustine specifies in the classification that the difference is in the will of a person or angel. A good will is that which adheres to God and an evil will is that which descends from God. Thus with our praise to our Creator, we should all proclaim that, not only of holy men, but also of holy angels, it may be said that the charity of God is poured forth in them by the holy Spirit who has been given to them (Rom. 5:5). Nor is it the good only of men, but first and foremost

5 that of angels, which is referred to in the words: It is good for me to adhere to my God (Ps 72:28). (Augustine City of God 9). In this passage we see the relationship between humans and the divine in Augustine s classification. Unlike the relationship between Odysseus and the gods where the gods give favor to Odysseus, men adhere to god and must favor him under his rule to achieve a good will and become good. In Augustine s classification, there is the evil will and the good will of men and angels, and the way to achieve the ideal state of a good will according to Augustine is found in our relationship to the divine; we must live in accordance with and adhere to God. From the fundamental difference existing between the two relationships between man and the divine, we see the different ideals created. The methods of achieving Augustine s ideal of a good will are different from achieving Homer s ideal of a hero in Greek culture. This is due to the different relationship between men and the divine. The value set of the ideal is ultimately different in the Christian view from the ancient Greek because in the Christian view, man must live under a god with no interaction; he must perform favor to God by staying free from sin and adhering to him. This explains why notions such as the commandments are valued in the ideal of a good will as Augustine depicts; versus killing men in battle to be a hero and receive divine favor like Odysseus. Augustine writes, It follows that the true cause of the good angel beatitude lies in their union with Absolute Being. And if we seek the cause of the bad angels misery, we are right in finding it in this, that they abandoned Him whose Being is absolute and turned to themselves whose being is relative a sin that can have no better name than pride. For pride is the beginning of all

6 sin (Eccli. 10:15). They refused to reserve their strength for Him. They might have had more of being if they had adhered to Him whose Being is supreme, but, by preferring themselves to Him, they preferred what was less in the order of being. (Augustine City of God 311.6) This passage shows the relationship of men and God in Augustine s classification once again, but also supports the argument that the values of the ideal in the classification of Augustine and the Christian view are different than the ancient Greek. In The Odyssey, Homer s classification depicts that pride is an attribute of the hero and something valued by the gods due to the interactive relationship of men and the divine; whereas the relationship of men and the divine Augustine depicts sees pride as a sin constitutes bad will. Essentially, both Augustine and Homer make classification that share a similar ideal, a superior man versus an inferior man. A fundamental difference exists in the ways to achieve this ideal because the human to God/gods relationship is different between Homer s The Odyssey, and Augustine s City of God. The means to achieve the hero status is dependant on receiving divine favor, where as the means to achieve a good will is to adhere to God in a moral life and live under his rule. This is significant because the relationship between men and the divine explains why Homer and Augustine have a different conception of what is ideal in their differing value sets of a hero vs. a layman and good vs. evil. The different relationships between man and the divine in the classifications illuminate different values such as pride or killing in the Greek culture view versus the Christian view.

7 Works Cited St. Augustine. City of God From Plato to Derrida Eds. Forrest Baird Walter Kaufmann. New Jersey: 2003 Homer. The Odyssey Literature of the Western World Eds. Brian Wilkie James Hurt. New Jersey: 2001